Wow, that's a lot of Louie to take in so quickly. None of them was a rough as the "mother" and "God" episodes (I forget the exact titles) in season one, but there were some real gut-punches. Like the one about Louie's niece.

I watched the first three or four episodes of Louie on Netflix, and I could see what people like so much about it, but I have to be honest: it didn't grab me. Usually when I start something new I only have to get a couple episodes in before I get hooked and start binging, but I didn't get there with Louie.

If I'm still not 100% into it, is it worth sticking it out? Or is my opinion not likely to change from here?

I'm another latecomer to this and ending up watching the first two seasons over a weekend a few weeks ago - 26 eps which are only 21 mins or so each - and loved it. A nice mix of his stand-up and...sit-com (very unorthodox sit-com, though.) Consistently funny despite having to look away when he really makes a fool of himself.

As for "not likely to change"? There are a few episodes which touch on "more serious subjects" but the humour's always there. Having said that, saw the first of the new season yesterday and, style/entertainment-wise, it picked-up exactly where S2 left off. The only things which might improve it for me would be to shorten the opening credits (but I think that about most TV shows) and (more?) episodes where the whole show is devoted to a single idea, rather than the twofer format it usually takes.

But I mean, what's not to love about a show featuring Doug Stanhope as a burned-out comedian on his way to commit suicide?

The balance that Louis finds in the writing of the shows is what kept me interested; it's a good mix of emotional gut-punch and a dick joke, which is an INCREDIBLY fine line. I'd say stick with it, SteadyUP, the show had only one real bump in it (#2 "Bummer/Blueberries"), and even that was just a bump, not a wall. He finds a way to inject emotion without it become soppy, and the dick jokes balance the sweet moments, so it's not too much of either.

Plus, his talk with Joan Rivers was really great in talking about why creatives do what they do to continue on, even when things are shitty.

I taped Coraline off ABC-Family last night and am rewatching it. Just a lovely, creepy movie for kids and adults. It's also one of the few "kid's movie" that doesn't really have much of a moral. Except maybe, "parents don't emotionally neglect your kids or Something Else will replace you."

Mother and daughter Dame Diana Rigg and Rachael Stirling are to star side by side in a Doctor Who adventure to be broadcast next year.It is the first time the pair have worked together on screen.The actresses will play "a mother and daughter with a dark secret" alongside Matt Smith, as the Doctor, and new companion Jenna-Louise Coleman.

The Secret History of Our Streets on BBC2 has been good eye-candy fodder, especially last weeks about Portland Rd in Notting Hill. It's now one of the most richest streets in London. It was good for me, anyway, because I squatted the bastard...and the road round the corner. My mates did the pub, too.

The relationship breakdown was good, I liked it a lot mostly because of how well his ex-love interest counterpointed his character. She was a breath of fresh air whenever she was on screen.

The rest however, was just sadism for the sake of Louie having a shitty life, not based in any sort of reality. If a construction team starts working on a road, they tow your car, they don't destroy it haphazardly or start working around it. When something like that happens, don't you take legal recourse? Your property was just destroyed by city workers. Does that not require some legal inquiry? I don't understand the logical road map which lead Louie to just shrugging it off and moping about it. Which then leads to the motorcycle scene, which I got the need for thematically in connection with the opening joke about the replacement penis, not to mention how he needs to feel masculine after being shown that he has no power in the world(the character destruction) or in his relationships(having the woman break up with him because he wanted to) but it was contrived the way it was handled.To legally ride a motorcycle, you need a specific license, which requires a day course, not to mention all the insurance that's required, so Louie basically walking out of the store with the motorcycle was just lazy and uninformed writing, again for the sadistic and thematic brutalization of his character.

Either of these issues, handled differently, would've still been kick the dog moments, but in much more a) realistic and b) soul crushing ways. The car tow is something that happens to everyone and getting it out of the lot is a shitty time. Have Louie try and deal with the man in the booth, not remembering his License plate or something. The legal recourse would be equally awful and demoralizing. The motorcycle, have him work towards it, want it and then have an accident in which the motorcycle is destroyed after all his hard work, making it for not.

I guess my overall problem is just how opposed Louie is to change and the resultant stagnation caused by that refusal. I get that it's an astute comment/deconstruction on the sitcom and many people's lives, but I feel that the point is made. I want to see it go somewhere, I want to feel like Louie is on some sort of a narrative journey. While I understand that this is a story telling convention and doesn't reflect the show's need for character reality, I find it grating that C.K. is comfortable rejecting logical connections (The car and the motorcycle) so easily.

I suppose I'm just having trouble coming to grips with Louie as a character and the world he exists in.

@johnjones: Interestingly, my reaction to Coraline was much different, though to be fair, I read Neil Gaiman's blog/etc, so it has probably been explained on some level there. The way I understand it, the story is that you can be unhappy with your parents and your lot in life, but what seems enticing might just be something/someone terrible in disguise. But if you are brave, keep your wits together, and get help from those around you, you can beat that terribleness and get your parents/life back, usually with a slightly improved situation. Now that I think about it, it has very fairytale/folktale sort of organization to it, which is unsurprising, coming from Neil Gaiman.

When I talk about a moral, I'm talking about a fairly trite, obvious statement that sums up whatever character flaw or moral failure landed the main character in the predicament the story addresses. Coraline maybe have been discontented, but it didn't seem to be a "fatal flaw" kind of thing. The "Other Mother" in the movie clearly targeted her from the creepy beginning when the doll was taken apart and remade in what we eventually learn was Coraline's image.

I was rather annoyed at the adaption of Coraline, having read the comic version, as I found the movie handed everything to Coraline rather than have her figure out anything on her own. For example, at the end of the comic:

She sets up a picnic over the well when she figures out the hand has made it through, and she sets the key in the middle. So rather than having a silly fight with a hand where a movie-exclusive character has to deus ex machina, she lures the hand to dive into the well and then boards it up on her own.

There were more than a couple other points like this, but I'd have to go through again to be more specific.